


Solar Flares

by Lofi_Jedi



Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Coffee, M/M, NASA Museum, Space nerds, Thunderbird 5
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:48:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29412171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lofi_Jedi/pseuds/Lofi_Jedi
Summary: John Tracy had always been the astronaut in the family destined to spend his life in space. During a vacation back on Earth, John meets someone new at the NASA Space Museum. When he returns to Thunderbird 5, he finds that their paths have crossed again, though not how he would have liked.
Relationships: John Tracy/Original Characters
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Solar Flares

John Tracy had always been the astronaut in the family destined to spend his life in space. Alan was equally enthusiastic about living and working in space but he wasn't able to spend long periods in space away from home. He was too young and simply couldn't cope with the distance for extended periods of time. But John could, and they needed someone to man the "space-base", as Gordon fondly called it, and be the center of controls for International Rescue.

John would spend most of his time up there, only coming down for his yearly planet-side vacation, large family events, or major rescues. He could call his family back on Tracy Island, but they were just holograms, the blue tinge falsifying the bond between Earth and the stars.

So there he was. On Thunderbird 5. In space. All alone.

《¤☆¤》

John was back on Earth for a few weeks to come home and visit the NASA Space Museum. There was a new exhibit on stars called Stars: A Stellar Opportunity. John was thrilled about this new exhibit and managed to convince Alan to take a shift on Thunderbird 5 so he could see it.

He spent the first day back on Earth adjusting to full gravity and catching up with his brothers before driving out to the museum.

After walking through the exhibit several times and fully ingesting all of the information, John began to poke around the rest of the museum. It wasn't like he hadn't seen it all before, but it never got old.

He saw several prototype designs, drawings for future rovers, and a few recovered rockets and shuttles from NASA's early days before wandering over to his all-time favorite place in the building, the scale model Milky Way Galaxy hanging in the center of the museum. Each planet carefully painted and placed on a frame that moved as time passed. Each would turn as their real counterpart would, revolving around the sun. Every moon for every planet was represented by its own scale model that too moved with the planets.

It was perfect as always, but it seemed somehow different. John then noticed someone else admiring the model with just as much fascination as he did. He stood opposite him with short chestnut hair that shone in the sunlight. He donned dark jeans and a suede jacket and held himself up tall, but seemed very comfortable.

"Which one's your favorite?" the man asked him, his gaze falling from the model to John.

"Earth," John replied, "It's home. There's no other way to explain it. What's yours?"

"The same actually, I've gone to Mars and Venus on expeditions but I agree, Earth is home," the man replied. They continued to discuss the planets and their adventures, John relaying stories of his ventures and the other man sharing some of his own.

"I'm John. Tracy,"

"Cameron Antigone, my friends call me Cam," he said with a smile.

That smile was all it took. Though John was initially only mildly intrigued by this man, John could no longer resist the urge to ask him out. Because really, hot damn.

"Would you mind if I got your number?" John said, his usual calm demeanor faltering slightly as he asked the question. Asking people out is hard.

"Not at all," Cam replied with a chuckle. He recited his number as John entered it in his phone "You free tomorrow? I'd love to get to know you a little better,"

"There's a nice café here at the museum, we could meet there. How does 4 o'clock sound?" said John.

"It's a date,"

Cam and John had wandered towards the exit while they were talking.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," Cam said.

"Yeah," said John, "Yeah, I guess so."

John stood at the top mesmerized, watching Cam jog down the steps and turn to walk down the street.

《¤☆¤》

John returned to Tracy Island that evening and discussed over dinner what he had seen in the new exhibit. As usual, when discussing the NASA museum, Alan took great interest in the subject and would frequently ask questions. Scott, Virgil, and Gordon took some interest but mostly went about discussing their own matters such as repairs to TB4's hull after a collision during a mission and Virgil's somewhat desperate requests for the infirmary's equipment to be properly logged when used.

"I'm going back to the museum tomorrow as well," said the astronaut between bites of salad. Fortunately, Scott had cooked that night so the food was actually edible.

"Why's that?" asked Alan slightly sarcastically, "You've already seen the new exhibit and you've basically memorized the entire museum, what more is there to do?" 

"I'm meeting with someone," John replied bluntly.

"Ooh, is this a date?" said Gordon, as annoyingly as possible.

"Maybe," said John, deadpan as ever, "I met him at the exhibition yesterday and we decided to meet again tomorrow. No big deal,"

"Hmm, no big deal, huh?" replied Gordon sarcastically "Sure, Johnny,"

John was glad to have finished his dinner and took his empty plate back to the kitchen. He then promptly retired to his room to avoid further questioning regarding his return to the museum tomorrow. But, was this a date? He didn't know.

Just go to sleep, he thought, just go to sleep.

But was it?

《¤☆¤》

John woke suddenly in the middle of the night and turned over to read 2:13 am on his clock. It was dark in his room, a presently unfamiliar location due to his regular residence on Thunderbird 5. He swung his legs over the side of his bed and ran his hands through his disheveled hair before standing and walking out into the hallway. He blamed his sudden upright stance for the headache that grew as he paced past his brother's rooms.

John walked into the living room and looked out the window. The full moon shone brightly in the night sky and the dark water lapped at the beach. The sky was clear of clouds and several stars glinted in space. He turned around and walked back to his room. The night was surprisingly warm for mid-September so John lay on his covers in a futile attempt to return to sleep.

His alarm blinked to 5 am, the light irritating his eyes. He went out into the living room again and was greeted by Scott, sitting on the couch casually eating a bagel and going over the latest geological warnings to see which ones they needed to monitor over the day.

"Morning, John" Scott greeted. How was this guy so alert at 5 am? John mumbled an indistinct reply that Scott understood to mean that he hadn't slept well.

"Hmm, bad night, huh"

"Yeah," John replied sluggishly. "I'll catch a nap when I get back from the museum. Imma go take a shower and get dressed."

John then proceeded to do exactly that before returning to the kitchen for breakfast.

Scott, Virgil, and Gordon were already in the kitchen eating when John walked in. So he said good morning and prepared his usual breakfast of cornflakes and milk. He quickly downed his cereal and headed towards the garage.

"Alright, I'm heading out. See you guys later," said John as he grabbed his beige plaid jacket.

"Enjoy your date, John,"

"It's not a date, Gordon,"

But was it?

《¤☆¤》

After flying to the mainland, John drove to the museum. He parked outside the stately building and walked up the stairs to the grand entrance. The autumn weather was brisk and windy and piles of leaves collected at the foot of the building. He pulled out his membership card and scanned himself through the turnstile before walking over to the cafe. John spotted Cam's suede jacket through the opaque glass barrier between booths at the back of the cafe and confidently approached the table.

"Cam," said John, his confidence shrinking, "Hi."

"John, hey!" said Cam excitedly. Phew, didn't backfire, thought John as he sat across from Cam. "I haven't ordered yet, I was waiting for you to arrive but we can order now if you're ready. I'm assuming from your apparent knowledge of this museum you already know your order."

John smiled warmly and nodded before Cam rose from his seat and they walked over to order at the counter. For John, a black coffee and a croissant. For Cam, an iced coffee and blueberry apple muffin. They returned to their booth with their pastries while their coffees were being made.

"So, Cam, what do you do?" said John, his composure returned, as they sat down on the red leather seats.

"I'm an astronaut, actually, I have an expedition next week. I majored in mechanical engineering and communications." Cam replied before digging into his muffin, "How 'bout you?"

"NASA Training graduate, I work with the GDF and International Rescue on some of their space stations. Which expedition are you going on? I'll see if I can see you from my space station, I'm going back up on Sunday. I've only been visiting Earth this week. I kinda live in space."

Cam's face lit up as John mentioned NASA, "I'm heading up on the latest shuttle to Mars, we're doing the first year-long exploration voyage. They've cut the travel time down to two weeks from launch to landing. I leave next Tuesday."

John took a bite of his croissant before saying, "I'll see if I can spot you on the way up. By the way, I know you're going to Mars and all that but, is there anyone important in your life? A partner or something?"

A waiter arrived with their drinks and set them down, Cam thanked the waiter and continued, "There was, but they left a long time ago. You'd think I would have gotten over them by now. Anyway, I guess I should ask you the same thing, do you have a partner?"

"No," replied John quickly "I've spent so much time in space I haven't exactly had time to think about relationships since high school."

Cam nodded softly before returning to his muffin. The two spacemen sat in silence for a minute or so, munching on their pastries, their minds beginning to wander off. With their heads in the stars, their eyes began to drift until they met. It was as if solar flares ricocheted between them and Jupiter's seas flooded as their yearning for each other grew.

John broke the silence first. "Cam, before we go, I need to tell you something." John paused as if he needed to catch up with himself on each word. He then continued slowly, "I'm bi, and I like you."

When he first came out, reactions from his family had varied. From Alan's "'kay, dude, you seen the tv remote?" to Virgil's tight embrace and "Welcome to the club" and Grandma's unforgettable "Huh? Oh! You like men? I'm confused, say it again."

John didn't know what to expect from Cam, so he waited.

Cam took a final sip of his coffee before bringing his head up to look John in the eyes, "John, I'm gay. Very gay. And if you haven't noticed, I like you too."

Cam's head tilted slightly to the side with his final remark before he stood to pay at the counter. John watched as Cam's leather jacket shifted as he walked. Not exactly an entertaining show, but it made him realize that maybe, just maybe, they could do this.

Whatever "this" was.

**Author's Note:**

> For those wondering about the change in seasons, Tracy Island is located in the Southern Hemisphere (somewhere North of New Zealand, but just South of Fiji and East of New Caledonia) which in September it is springtime, but the NASA Museum is in the Northern Hemisphere and it is therefore autumn there.
> 
> Also, I know there are lots of NASA facilities both in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, but this is a hypothetical generic NASA Museum somewhere on the West coast of the USA.


End file.
